Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Sara Lawrenson Headteacher Ince Church of England Primary School Charles Street Ince Wigan Lancashire WN2 2AL

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Ofsted visit to Ince Church of England Primary School

Following my visit with John Nixon, Her Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), to your school on 9 December 2020, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the visit’s findings. Thank you for the time you made available to discuss your actions since September 2020, when the government expected all schools to open fully to all pupils.

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Ofsted visit to Ince Church of England Primary School

This visit was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for visiting schools while routine inspections are temporarily suspended.

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Ofsted visit to Ince Church of England Primary School

Ofsted’s visits to schools during the autumn term are not inspections. We are not giving graded judgements. We did not undertake the usual range of inspection activities and were unable to check other sources of evidence, such as visits to lessons or looking at pupils’ work. The content of this letter gives an overview of our discussions about what has happened in your school this term.

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Ofsted visit to Ince Church of England Primary School

During the visit, we spoke to you, the deputy headteacher and your leader for pupils’ well-being. We did not speak to pupils because of the protective measures in place.

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Context

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s education system is managing the return to full education for pupils, following an extended break in formal schooling due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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Context

In undertaking this focused work, HMI are visiting a broad range of schools. HMI will visit a sample of:

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Context

 approximately 1,200 schools across all Ofsted grades (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate)  maintained schools, academies and free schools, special schools and centres of alternative provision, including those in cities, and coastal, town or rural communities.

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Context

The information from this visit will feed into Ofsted’s national reporting so that the insights can be shared with the government and the education sector. We did not find any significant concerns during the visit. In such a case, an inspection report would be published on our website and available to parents and carers.

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Context

We did not consider your response to COVID-19 during the spring and summer terms 2020, when the school was not open to all pupils.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

 Approximately half of all pupils have had to learn at home for a period of time since the start of term.  Pupils are studying the subjects from the school’s usual curriculum, with some changes to the content. Teachers have allocated more time for teaching mathematics and reading this term. You intend for teachers to return to teaching the usual content of the curriculum before summer 2021.  Teacher’s assessments of some pupils have shown which letters and sounds they have forgotten from before March 2020. You said that teachers, including one of the school’s senior leaders with expertise in reading, are giving pupils extra individual help with their reading.  In mathematics, you found that some pupils have developed gaps in their understanding. This is due to missed learning during the summer term and reduced practice at using their previous knowledge. In Year 3 and Year 4, teachers are prioritising the teaching of multiplication tables to enable pupils to

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

remember these facts more easily.  In religious education, you said that teachers have reorganised some planned units of learning to include work that pupils have missed during the different periods of COVID-19 restrictions.  You explained that for pupils who must learn at home, teachers provide work linked to planned lessons at school. This includes a mix of online learning and paper study packs. Thank you again for contributing to this important national work. The views and experiences you have shared will help to inform future policy.

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From this visit, inspectors noted that:

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Liverpool, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wigan. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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